Outdoor Retreat: Secret Area

Finding the Hermit of Granite Falls

A Cave in Granite Falls leads to the Secret Area of the Outdoor Retreat Game Pack

Finding the Hermit's House in the Deep Woods of Granite Falls is an activity exclusive to players who own the Outdoor Retreat Game Pack. Befriending the Hermit is a requirement of the Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration that comes with the pack. This hidden area features some great fishing, herbs, insects, and a potential new friendship with the old Hermit. It's also easily one of the most beautiful areas in the game, with a relaxing landscape and dazzling waterfalls that these screenshots can only hope to depict in their full grandeur.

Click to Enlarge. Use this Picture to Help Find the Cave

You can see the waterfall in the distance when over the Bramble Patch

To access the hidden area, first head to Granite Falls Forest National Park. There, you can use the cabin and screenshot above to help you locate the cave you need to investigate. Once you get a Sim there and select Explore, you'll get a variety of choose-your-own adventure style pop-ups. First select to Step Forward as opposed to quitting the adventure. You may need to try this a few times to get the right option, or different ones may offer alternate routes to the area, but one in particular is reliable as far as I know at this moment. When one appears that offers you to Go through the Web, take that option and you'll be on your way to the Deep Woods. Next, you should be offered to Ignore the Object or Sally Forth and finally Approach the Sim. That Sim is the Hermit and you've found your way through the cave to the secret area.

The Hermit will vary in gender from game to game. Becoming Friends with the Hermit of Granite Falls is fairly easy, so long as you bring a Tent to let your Sim sleep should they grow tired. This is required in Milestone III of Outdoor Enthusiast. There are amenities to help your Sim fill their needs in the area. If you visit the lot a second time and can't find the Hermit, use your Sim's phone to 'Invite to Hangout at Current Lot' and select the Hermit. They should arrive so you can continue the process, and once at Good Friends, you can select 'Learn Herbalism Recipe' from the Hermit to acquire the Fungal Infusion Fertilizer Recipe.

Use the Fishing Spot to Catch Mountain Lionfish

You can catch all 5 types of Fish unique to Outdoor Retreat here, which is particularly easy if you have something organic to use as bait, such as Tomato or any of the plants you've harvested from exploring the forest.

Take the Hermit's Herbs, Tomatoes, and Blackberries. You can 'Take Cutting' from those you can't Harvest

Collect the Hermit's Herbs to help fill your collection of Gardening plants. She has Blackberries, which are rare. Search the area as well. These will come in handy with Outdoor Retreat's Herbalism Skill.

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christine jewell

This site is very useful and helps when I get stuck. Thank you. Let me know if there is anything I can do.

When you befriend the hermit the corresponding goal on the Outdoor Enthusiast aspiration should complete. Other than that befriending the Hermit allows you to learn the Fungal Infusion Fertilizer Recipe from them, under friendly interactions.

Okay, how the hell do you get your camera to go that far because I cant find the freaking hermit cave and I've been looking for an hour. Is it because I'm on PC? Does it only work on mac or have I done something wrong

When in the campsite, travel to the 'Granite Falls Forest' National Park. Once there scroll out to get a birds eye view, have the Rangers hut in the bottom left of your screen and the waterfall "behind" you. Get your sims to walk to the edge of the map and keep looking for a 'hidden' tunnel covered in vines. It is hard to find the first time. Two ways to get a birds eye view... scroll out with your mouse wheel or hit tab. You can also scroll right out with your mouse and then hit tab.

So the cave looks like a tunnel covered in vines, it takes you to the Hermit's Area where the hermit lives in a small wood cabin. Finding the hidden tunnel is tricky at first but it is in the same place in every game so once you have found it you will always know where it is. The plants will spawn in after a short amount of time so just keep scrolling around the area with your camera until you see them. I agree, the first time trying to collect all the plants is a lesson in frustration but now I can get all the plants in one sim day and get home with everything I need. Sometimes getting the insects take two trips as you need to revisit to reset the spawners.Like I said before, once you finally do locate everything the next time around it will be much easier.

As my sim became best friends with the female hermit a second hermit appeared in the conversation and now she is interacting with both, male and female, hermits. Is it common to meet more than 1 hermit?

Yes, my hermits name is Mariah Hills...I am having a problem with my game not counting all of my types of fish (for the aspiration) I have about 23 different fish types in my notebook, but the aspiration only says 16 of 20?

Remember that only the base game fish count towards this aspiration as it is a base game aspiration. So any fish that have been added from the various DLC will not register as the 20 needed to complete that particular requirement. There is a fish list on this page of the Fishing Skill Guide and you can tell which are base game fish as the added fish have the dlc icon to indicate which pack they came from.

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